Regardless, this looks very promising! I'm impressed that you all aren't giving in to the gimmicky "super stretch goal" style of earning money; I'm really impressed and I'm certain that this will make the final version of the game infinitely better.

It demonstrates incredible maturity to resist the urge to keep selling promises and just focus on what is necessary - I hope this is a sign that Kickstarter is finally growing up! Thank you so much Ryan & Co. for respecting your backers and not going for the money-grab option.

Keep up the good work, can't wait to see the first playable alpha/beta!

Question, since exhaustion is a factor in survival, will there bed set ups so our npcs, and also ourselves, can gain sleep. You show a day night cycle, and bar mentioned stamina being a game factor, so I am just curious.

In game flair! Sweet ass sweet. I'm hoping it's a pair of aviators so everyone knows that even though we are fighting for our lives against the living dead we still have time to look cool. Yeah or some mix of chainsaw and sword. I'm good either way.

@Robert- The NPC "hero vs outlaw" dynamic is entirely up to you and your teammates. Recruiting differently aligned NPCs and housing them in the same area will reduce their moral among other things.

NPCs will have different stats and will consume resources depending on their needs. The easiest way to visualize these stats that we have thought of is through UI elements that pop up on mouseover as well as the communication example you mentioned - "I needs food!"

NPC management will ultimately come down to being aware of your resources. Bringing too many into your camp will have a negative effect on everyone in the party and is up to the players to choose who stays and who goes. Some NPCs may be okay with your decision to let them go, others may not!

Superbacker

I'm also curious about implementation of this system with the co-op group dynamic. If I'm a Hero & my friend is an Outlaw, do we have a group alignment system that neutralizes us? Or do we each recruit NPCs separately? Do we manage NPCs as a group or separately?

I tend to agree with those below: it does seem like NPCs should be more likely to join you (especially if they're in bad shape), but Outlaws much more likely to mutiny against you as a Hero and, likewise, Heroes against your Outlaw.

I don't like the idea of automated turrets. Fixed defensive positions (like a machine gun nest) that you or an NPC could go to would be fine, but I wouldn't like seeing manufacturing turn into a tower defense of building unmanned MG towers that fire at any enemy within range.

But, I do totally agree with Max that NPCs having multiple stats (which seemed to be implied by the video) would be great. Not sure if I would rather we were able to access it as a character sheet to see these stats or have them just talk to us periodically to say, "Hey, we're low on food." or whatever.

Expanding on Max's idea, I think it would be a good idea that the NPCs follow the party as a whole rather than individual, because the dynamic could change if one member of the group is an outlaw and the rest are heroes and then the NPC would react differently if the outlaw is talking to them. And if the outlaw went out on a mission the NPC might be reluctant to follow him/her in case things go south and the outlaw would leave the NPC behind or something like that.

Some other thoughts.
I'd be a little surprised if in a real-life survival situation people wouldn't team up because they didn't "like" each other; it seems like either they'd try first and then split, and/or whatever incentive that person needed to stay with the party would be significantly higher.
I wonder what the maximum party size is. Should be fairly small. Maybe 5?
Since this is a co-op game, will NPCs you've teamed up with be available to everyone? Or will it be like "this is my 4 NPCs, and that's your 4 NPCs"?
When sending NPCs off on missions (which is awesome btw), it'd be great if you could send them in groups, e.g. two combat units and a healing unit, to increase survival odds.
I forget if I saw this, but automated defense systems would be neat. Having NPCs to help you /and/ turrets and whatnot might be overkill, though -- maybe just stationary guns that NPCs could man? Automated from a player perspective :)
Lastly, I'd love to see some attributes other than HP, especially for NPCs, like Hunger, Fear, and Loneliness, so long as it doesn't get micromanage-y. (Anyone here played The Movies and get to higher levels? oy, stupid actors) But there should be ramifications for some units if you leave them at your camp alone for days.

2. How about chat with an intellectual npc and gives you trivia/logic question or 'shudders' math problems, and you have answer at least 3/5 correctly (or decrease in moral/ morale each given every other day, maybe

3. A grunt-ish type npc demands a steady supply of shotgun ammo or they defect?

4. or maybe just something silly like "get me some Archie comics every (x) time span for me to read, or i go mutiny on you."

-Though all this might make it more appealing to just to go solo, les you have your buddies in co-op, too many cooks and all that, just do what ya gots to do ;) -- just my 2¢

Anyways, a big 'Kudos' on what looks to be an outstanding crowdfunding guys!

NPC interactions is looking good. Will NPCs vary in their capacities? For instance will some NPCs be better and scavenging and some more likely to get eaten by zombies when sent out to scavenge supplies?

Also, while managing your NPC's moral behavior would be interesting, I think what you are getting at in the video is managing your NPCs Morale.

Thanks for another informational video! When you try to recruit NPCs, is it strictly based on the outlaw vs renegade system or are there other factors. And if you fail at first, are you able to try again later?

Also, will NPCs "grow" over time, getting better or worse at their jobs?

@David - NPCs will have their moral affected by the number of NPCs in an area. Meaning if you have a lot of NPCs in a small area they will become upset. The way a player can manage this is by spacing out the "shelter" structures. A really simple structure that could count as "shelter" is a tent.